


Settling In

by DarkJediQueen



Series: Love Grows With Music [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Discussion of Case-Related Violence, Established Relationship, M/M, anon divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 12:50:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19869952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Spencer is settling into his life with Sammy while also settling into a relationship with Aaron.





	Settling In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivermoon1970](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivermoon1970/gifts).



> **Year** : February 2012 (Season 7)  
>  **Spoilers** : Up Through Season 7  
>  **Notes** : None  
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

Spencer smiled as he listened to Sammy as he played the piano. Aaron had bought a few new music books for Sammy after Sammy had learned the others. He had even bought one that was violin music that Sammy had converted to piano music. It was a good exercise for him. Sammy was well settled into his classes at New Haven. Thankfully, new laws had been passed that allowed for kids on the Autism spectrum to skip certain classes that for the most part, were standard for everyone else.

An independent evaluator had come in and spent time with Sammy during classes and easily set up the classes that Sammy would need to pass to be allowed to move onto college. Sammy would be staying on a music path, and therefore math was going to be required, but Sammy seemed to do well enough in math and even pretty good in science that he would take basic classes like that. He only had to sit through a few history classes, and he didn't have to take any English classes, but Spencer had enrolled him in the sign language class. It was going to be a very strange education for any kid, but it was going to be Sammy-centric, and that was what was needed for him.

"Spencer," a voice called out.

Spencer looked for where he had left his computer while he had started to prepare lunch. He looked at the far counter and found it there with Jackson's face on it. Spencer had been expecting the call at any point so he had left the computer where it could see him from nearly anywhere in the room. He had also it seemed forgot that he had done that.

"Hello, Jackson," Spencer said. He gave Jackson a smile and hoped that Jackson never talked about how much he had scared him.

"Hello, how is the day going?" Jackson looked a little worn out but given that he was negotiating to buy a grouping of islands to buy as vacation housing for workers. There was a lot of stress, and after a few employees had got sick because of it, Jackson was trying to change things. Including sending some families to a place where they could truly relax for a while if needed. Spencer had loved the idea of it, but he wasn't sure that Sammy would actually like the trip. Any of it really. Spencer would have to take Sammy to an orchestra or something that he could make sure they got rooms for those who had sound issues.

"So far, so good. I'm glad the repair has gone well, and you are able to get in contact again."

"Yes, well, the storm on the island can be horrible. Thank you for agreeing to meeting with me today. You said you found what you were looking for?"

"Yes. I have the proof you need to take several people to court. It's not just one single person but five that are stealing from your company and trying to make it look like others are. They are smart but not smart enough." Spencer smiled as he looked at the printed copies of everything that he needed to show the theft. It had taken just over a month for Spencer to find everything that he needed. He had ended up needing every single thing bit of paperwork from ten years of the finances of a multi-billion-dollar corporation for him to find what was needed to suss out who was stealing, then he had found that five were doing it.

"Good. I'll be flying home tomorrow. We can go over it all at your house on Monday. Stay home and don't go into work. I'll get there as soon as possible. Enjoy your weekend and have fun with your son."

"I will. We are going to make a stir-fry."

"I'm glad that he's settling well with you. You've found that he's pretty open on food. I heard you talking to Aaron a week ago in your office before our meeting. He's eating well?"

"Yes. We have a good system for him telling me what he likes and what he doesn't. He still has issues, and we have our problems, but less than some with kids like him have." Spencer knew that he was on borrowed time as far as that went. Something would happen that would have Sammy shut down on him. He had the books to help, but now he just needed practical lessons on dealing with a kid like that. Those he could only get from actually dealing with a child like that.

Spencer wouldn't say he was looking forward to that, but he was looking forward to getting the first one out of the way. The fact that he couldn't plan on what to do going forward had him a little upset. He liked plans, and he knew that having a plan was needed. He just couldn't plan this without having a base on which to grow that plan.

"I'm glad. Look I'm going to go so I can make sure to leave on time. You take care, Spencer."

"You, too, Jax."

Spencer waited for the screen to go black before he walked over to shut down the computer. He had lunch to prepare and not a lot of time to do it. Sammy was good at getting out of the routine if they were out and about a food took longer at a restaurant, but he liked things in an orderly fashion at home, and Spencer tried his best to fall in line on that. It kind of made things nice to know what to do at each moment of the day.

Looking at the chart on the wall, Spencer smiled. It had been a gift from Aaron. It was a whiteboard with magnets underneath, and it was painted like a grid. It covered a full week, and every single Sunday, Spencer, and Sammy sat down and planned what they were going to do that week. There were magnets for things like Sammy's music time that sometimes varied per day, but things like school were written in since it was covered over long hours. There were magnets for if Spencer was out of town. Aaron had thought about just everything that could come up that a magnet would work for.

It was a nice way for Sammy to keep track of everything and be able to do it on his own. Spencer knew that Sammy would get used to it and be able to change things on his own section of it without worrying. So far, he could touch it a little but didn't actually move anything on it.

Lunch was a hit followed by Sammy watching a little TV while Spencer worked on a few letters. One to his mother, one to Ethan, and finally one to Aaron. The ones to his mother and Ethan were easy. His mother's the easiest, but then he had been writing to her for a long time. Ethan had been more recent with him traveling with a jazz band and talking on the phone was unreliable, Spencer mailed them to a service that would forward the letters to him on a schedule.

The letter to Aaron took time. It had to be perfect.

Spencer smiled as he signed his name to the letter. Sammy was asleep on the couch beside Spencer, his legs tucked up to his chest and his head resting on Spencer's calves. It was a regular position that Spencer was quite used to. Sammy was good with touching like that, and Spencer was glad. As long as Sammy was the one to start most of it, he would touch Spencer a lot, at least what Spencer thought was a lot. It was more than the journals that Sammy's mother had kept talking about him touching them. The journals had been a shock to find in the things that had been packed up from Sammy's house, but Spencer had not been all that shocked once he had read them.

The journals started two days after Sammy had been first diagnosed. It had helped Spencer understand Sammy a little bit better, but it was not the key to everything because several of his behaviors had changed in the time between the journals and the boy he was now. Sammy missed his parents. Spencer could tell that with just looking at him. There was a picture in Sammy's room of them, well there were several, but one of the three of them at Sammy's last birthday dinner before their death was touched a lot. Spencer had made sure that as many pictures as possible were saved, Garcia had digitally saved them to make sure that even if something happened to the originals, then there would be the ability to re-print them.

Spencer felt his phone vibrate. He picked it up. He had set his cell phone to chime a single time when it rang, or he got a text for anything. At times where Sammy was close, it was automatic for him to silence it all the way to where it just vibrated. Sammy didn't like the noise. Even Aaron did the same when he arrived.

It was Aaron on the phone. A picture of him smiling with Jack's face right beside his filled the screen.

"Hello, Aaron," Spencer said as a greeting.

"Reid," Aaron said, and his tone was severe.

Spencer knew that it was not a personal call at all.

"What can I do for you?"

"I hoped that this call would take longer to happen. I need a little help. Garcia is going to send you a case file. I feel like there is something we are missing."

"Sure. I have the tablet here on the coffee table." Spencer reached for the tablet at the same time he turned off the TV. He looked at Sammy and smiled at him. Sammy was still having issues at least one night a week sleeping, so he always napped that day. A thunderstorm the night before had woke him up and so he and Spencer had sat together reading in the living room.

Spencer turned on the tablet and logged into it. He carried it with him to work and nearly everywhere else he went. It ran off of the same network that the rest of the team's tablets did. It was safe for him to use it anywhere.

"Give me two hours, and I'll call you back."

"Don't push anything away when it comes to putting aside anything you have with Sammy."

"Oh, it's a simple day inside. Sammy agreed after we both got little sleep that we would laze about the house all day long. He's napping, and I was writing a few letters. Yours will be in the mail and waiting for you when you get home."

"I'm glad. I need to go. We can't get a lock on the profile, so we are still just kind of waiting. He's taken a young man, but we haven't been able to find evidence where he is hiding them before he kills them. He burns the bodies after dumping them. Makes for ease in finding but destroys everything else."

"In two hours, I'll set up a call on the laptop in my office upstairs. That way, the team can see me. That'll make them happy. How is Anderson settling in?" Spencer had felt sorry for Anderson taking over for Spencer, so he had invited him over for dinner one night. Sammy really liked him, which was odd as he hadn't taken to anyone strange well at all. He liked Aaron, but part of that was knowing him from the case.

"Anderson is slotting into place well. A few hiccups here and there but nothing too big. He's happy and so isn't the rest of the team. It makes it easier as he's known to the team. He's quite happy, and I think he'll be here for a few years."

"How is he doing taking over JJ's job?"

"Really well. He's a pro at it. I think he helped JJ more than we knew when she was on cases and in the field on taking care of things at the office. JJ had a long and hard job, and I don't demean what she did, but it was needed, and I can't remember when I had this little stress. I didn't realize how much it weighed on me." Aaron's voice cut out like he had covered the phone. Spencer didn't say anything. "That was Morgan. It seems that there is a small breakthrough. I'll make sure Garcia keeps you updated."

"Okay, Aaron." Spencer hung up the phone as he pulled it down from his ear. He looked at the tablet and then at Sammy. Spencer really didn't want to get up and wake up Sammy, but he didn't want to just leave Sammy and have him wake up without him there. So, Spencer turned his body to where he could settle against the arm of the couch and look at the tablet and make sure that Sammy couldn't see it.

The case was horrible, and Spencer hated that he wasn't there, but he was quite happy where he was. He started to swipe through the files, saving the pictures for last. He delved into the files again, reading the rest of the reports that the LEO had made on the case. He found the files that Morgan had put together on the damage to the bodies that the coroner could tell even through the burns. Spencer frowned as he knew it. He knew those damages. Spencer moved so that Sammy would wake up and he looked at Spencer blinking as he sat up.

"I've got to go upstairs for a while. I didn't want you to wake up find me gone."

Sammy nodded his head in the way that he did, and Spencer stood up, going slow because his legs were partially asleep. He took the stairs just as slow make sure he didn't fall. He didn't need Sammy to freak out. Spencer shut his office door but didn't lock it. Sammy was pretty good about knocking on doors, even if sometimes it didn't always sound like a knock. Spencer was learning those noises well.

Spencer started a search into files from cold cases. While he looked at that, he tried to narrow down the wisp of memory in his head that triggered when he read the wounds made to the victims. Spencer brought up the camera, the image of himself popping into the corner. He called up the number for the team and waited to see who answered the call. He found that it was Aaron, who wasn't looking at the screen.

"What do you have for us, Garcia?" Aaron asked.

"Well, I'm not Garcia."

"Reid," Aaron said as he looked up at the screen. He looked a little worried for a few seconds, harried by the case. He did smile at Spencer, though.

"Where is Rossi?"

"Here," Rossi said as he came around the screen to stand behind Aaron.

"Two years before Hotch joined the team, you had a case where an UnSub was kidnapping young men, raping and killing them before dumping the bodies. It went unsolved even with you and Gideon working it."

"Yes, I remember that was about fifty miles from where we are, wasn't it?" Rossi asked.

"Yes. The violence is more escalated, even taking out the burning of the body. He also left DNA behind on that case, but this one the fire destroys it and the UnSub uses a condom for the rape act."

"That was a while ago Reid, why would the UnSub have stopped?"

"States didn't take DNA on all criminals caught unless it was a violent crime. Look for prisoners who went into the system around that time in the state and have been released before the first victim was taken."

"We have the DNA from the old cases so we can at least match him to them. That statute of limitations has been removed here so we can at least get him on this and work on connecting the dots after. Smart thinking Reid." Rossi looked really proud of him, and for a few seconds, Spencer missed the job. He heard the knock on his door and shut down the files on the laptop of the old case and turned to call for Sammy to enter the room.

"Hey, Little Man," Spencer said.

Sammy walked over to Spencer's desk and set down a plate with some vegetables and fruit from the fridge and a juice pack. He looked at Spencer's face and then the laptop and turned to leave.

"Thanks, Sammy," Spencer called out. Sammy hesitated but didn't stop from leaving, pulling the door shut behind him.

"What was that?" Rossi asked.

"Sammy shared his afternoon snack with me. Even got me a juice box." Spencer picked up a grape and popped it into his mouth. Sammy thought that if he was hungry, Spencer had to be hungry as well. He always fed Spencer something if he got a snack unless it was just a box of raisins. "He shut the door, so we can talk again."

"Have you finished to enough to where you want to talk profile with Rossi and Morgan while I go and get the captain to get the LEOs together?" Aaron asked.

"In about ten minutes, I will be."

"Good. That will give Morgan time to get back."

Spencer looked down at the tablet which he still had the new files on and then looked up the files from the old cases. Garcia was going to be the one to work on giving the team a group of people to look through, but a profile was still going to be needed.

It was hours later that Aaron texted that they had their UnSub before he could kill again. Spencer relaxed after that. Dinner had been pizza, made like Aaron had taught them. Sammy really liked that. It sometimes took him a half an hour to get his toppings the way he wanted on the pizza, but his smile as he was doing it was more than worth that.

* * *

Spencer smiled as he watched Sammy get up to answer the door when the lights flashed. He followed behind Sammy to the front door. Spencer knew who it was, Sammy knew who it was. But there was the fear that it wasn't who they were expecting. There was a flash of blonde hair and a shirt that Spencer knew well. Sammy looked back at Spencer, and Spencer nodded his head. Sammy opened the door, and there was Jessica Brooks.

"Hello, Sammy. You are looking handsome today." Jessica looked up at Spencer and gave him a wave. Jessica had been coming for short visits here and there while Spencer was getting settled into work. He could still do a lot of it from home, but there were visits to the office that he had to make, and usually, Sammy just went with him. Today though, Spencer was going to leave Sammy with Jessica while he went into the office to meet with a few clients who wanted to meet him after he had thrown out their bids to help with a government project that Grimes Tech didn't have the divisions to handle alone. Grimes could make the tech for the planes but the actual plane making, well that needed another company to help, at least for now. Jackson was looking to expand to larger spaces to make planes and the like, but for now, they had to contract that out.

Sammy gave Jessica his little wave that he did to people that he liked. Spencer was still working with him on the whole signing, hello but at least the wave had happened.

"So, Jack's with friends and I'm going to watch Sammy. Aaron told me that he's been in a good mood the past week, so I'm glad. It's about time for afternoon piano practice, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. I brought a nice book to read while Sammy plays. What about dinner? Do I need to do anything to help with that?"

"No. Tonight is take out night. Sammy set out the menu for what he wants. If you want to look it over, I'll bring some back for you as well. That's why Jackson set up this meeting for today. He knew it was take-out night."

"You know I've known Jackson for years through Aaron, but it's still weird. That could have been Aaron, you know. Jackson wanted him to change degrees to financial, but Aaron wanted criminal law, so did Haley really. She wanted the political wife's life."

"Aaron's talked about that a little." Spencer wasn't sure how comfortable he was discussing Aaron with Jessica.

"I don't want to upset you. I just...Aaron's been happier lately, and it's because of you. I don't want to see him ruin what he has going on with you because of the insecurities that Haley put in him. He hasn't thought he was enough for anyone since she divorced him. I love him dearly, Spencer. He's the brother that I never had, from the moment he got serious with Haley, I knew that he loved me as well, as a sister. I was never jealous because he made me feel special, as well. I don't know that he'll ever fully move on from the love that he had for her."

"She's there in his heart, but there's enough room for me as well," Spencer said as he smiled. It was a sad sort of smile. Spencer knew all of what she said. It was in everything that Aaron did. The love he had for Jack. The way that he sat with him and told him the same stories over and over again, no matter how many times Jack has heard them. I don't ever want Jack to feel like he can't talk about Haley, even when I'm around. If we ever get to the phase where we turn serious, we are going to be a weird little family, but we are going to be a family. And there will always be room for Haley and you in that family."

"How is he doing right now?" Jessica asked, moving to where Sammy was sitting at the bench of the piano in the sunroom. He was flipping through one of the books that Spencer had found online for him that had a lot of really old music sheets in it. He settled on one and started to play. Jessica smiled.

"He's doing good. Every day is a little easier on me than the one before." Spencer stepped into the room and laid a hand on top of the piano in Sammy's line of sight. He waited for the boy to stop playing before he started to speak. "I'm going to go to work. I'll be back with dinner. If you change your mind on what you want, take the menu to Jessica, and I'll change up what we get."

Sammy reached up and patted Spencer's hand. Spencer kept his hand still and waited for Sammy to lift his up before he pulled away.

"If you need anything just text. I can answer easily on my tablet, which I will have in the meeting. I forward all texts to it. It makes for better etiquette as they assume, I am making notes about something else. Jackson made all tablets to allow that as long as we don't abuse it. Anyone with kids is not abusing. Those who text lovers outside of meetings running long and shit are abusing it."

"How does he monitor that?"

"Others of us keep an eye on people in meetings. I keep an eye on my people. Syncing the texts to the tablet requires a paper that's filled out that you agree to a discovery inquiry at any point. So far, one has been caught sexting someone during a meeting. It was quite interesting when it was brought up."

Spencer grabbed his keys. He had his new messenger bag by the door there. There was a padded pocket for his tablet, which he did a lot of work on when he was at work as he had a computer in his office but hadn't settled into work there that much outside of when Sammy was at school. There was also a second padded pocket for his FBI tablet. It was nice and still had room for at least two books plus other things he liked to carry around with him. He made sure his phone was in its pocket on the end that was closest to his front and nodded at Jessica before leaving. He walked down off the porch and stopped when he saw the car at the end of his drive. Spencer smiled. It was Reginald, Jackson's personal driver when he was in the area. Jackson probably sent him so that he didn't have to worry about Jessica calling or texting him while he was driving.

"Hello, Reginald," Spencer said as he settled down into the front seat of the car. Reginald smiled at Spencer and forgave him the sitting in the front. Spencer didn't like being alone in the back of a car with someone else driving. He had never liked it. He had got used to it a little when he was injured. His leg had needed to be stretched out in the backseat.

"Hey, Doc. I'll stay so I can bring you home as well. So, you just relax and don't worry about a single thing."

Spencer nodded his head and let his mind wander a little. He had his messenger bag clutched in his lap, waiting to hear if Jessica texted him, called him, or reached out in any way. Spencer had been bringing Sammy in with him and leaving him in his office if he needed to go into work. He stayed close to him.

The drive to DC and the main part of the Grimes Tech where he was working out of. Spencer was pretty sure that he checked his phone a million times during the drive and at least a hundred as he made his way through the building to where he knew Jackson and the people were meeting. He settled in at the table, seeing that he was early. Jackson would be as well so that he could be fully set up before the others even arrive. Spencer spread his papers out on the end of the table where he would sit down during the meeting.

Jackson arrived several minutes later, a tablet in his hand. He looked up at Spencer with a smile on his face. "Separation anxiety?" Jackson asked as he pointed at the pen in Spencer's hand that Spencer realized he was bouncing off of the stack of papers beside him. He still his hand.

"A little bit."

"Today is going to be short, no matter what. I'll make sure the business you need to be here for is done first."

"Mister Jackson," an aide said as he entered the room.

"Ah, William."

Spencer turned to see that he had a tray with a few sweets on it as well as a carafe of coffee. Spencer smelled the coffee where two cups were poured already on the tray. William set down one in front of Spencer and the other Jackson before putting the tray between them. He stepped back and left. Spencer picked up the cup of coffee and inhaled deeply. It was one of his favorite blends that Jackson had. Jackson knew it too.

"Thanks," Spencer said. He took another sip before bringing up the proposal for the partnership on his tablet to read it over one more time.

When the door opened a little while later, Spencer plastered on a smile. He would do this because he had to.

* * *

Aaron pressed on the doorbell to Spencer's house. Jack was a ball of energy beside him. Ready to get to listen to Sammy play on the piano. Aaron had a bag of things in his hand, but more was in the trunk of his car, but he would get those things after Jack was inside. Aaron saw that the doorbell was blinking, but there was no sound coming from inside. He was about to press the button again when the door opened. Aaron saw that the lights in the house were blinking.

"Oh, that's cool," Jack said, his eyes on the light in the foyer of the house.

"It was made for deaf people so that they could know people were at their door. It's been adapted I've learned for a lot of families who had children with hearing sensitivity. A light in every single room on the ground floor blinks to a Time Lord's heartbeat, but upstairs it's just the hall and the ceiling lights in my bedroom that does. Even if the lights are off, they will turn on long enough to blink."

"That's really cool." Jack kind of pushed past Spencer but stopped when he got to the door of the sunroom. It seemed like Sammy wasn't in there.

"Hello," Spencer said.

"Hello," Aaron said back. He handed over the bag in his hand. "If you'll put that stuff in the fridge, I have two more things to get out of the trunk of my car."

"Okay." Spencer gave Aaron a little frown before he started to turn around. Aaron reached out and grabbed Spencer's arm to pull him close for a kiss. Aaron didn't let it get too deep as they were half inside of the house and half outside and those sorts of things were best for inside.

"Hello," Aaron said.

"Hi," Spencer said with a grin on his face. He looked a lot happier because of that kiss. Aaron was happy to put that smile on his face.

"Jessica said that she and Sammy got along well. He didn't give her any issues. That was good."

"Yes. I have another lunchtime meeting next week that will run after Sammy's at school. She's agreed to come and watch him. It's only when meetings run past him being able to stay at the school or me being able to get to him to pick him up in time."

"She's happy to do it. Between the money that I give her, while she would watch Jack for free, I've pushed her not to. I pay her what I would pay a place to watch him as much as he gets watched. I know that you are going to do the same, she's able to take a better job that doesn't have as much pay but allows her to work from home or wherever she's got a laptop. She's happy."

Spencer nodded his head and turned to head into the house to put up the bag of snacks that Aaron brought with him. He only brought things that Spencer didn't have as Sammy didn't like a lot of things, but given his level of Autism, Aaron was shocked that he ate as much as he did. It showed the trying that his parents had done before they were killed at giving Sammy the best shot in life.

Aaron turned to get Jack's bean bag out of the trunk as well as the bag of things for Aaron to leave, just in case he and Jack stayed the night. The distance between places was just enough that Aaron didn't want it to be a factor when they got that far along. It wasn't hard to swap out one of his older go-bags for a new and use that old one for a bag to leave at Spencer's. Aaron knew that it was probably a little too soon for it, but Aaron liked to be prepared.

Checking the time, Aaron let himself back into the house and shut the door and locked it. He knew that Spencer kept the door locked, but the alarm was not always set, especially during the day. Aaron saw that Spencer hadn't made his way back into the main parts of the house, so he still had to be in the kitchen. He set the bean bag in the sunroom and then settled his bag on the bar like area that was beside the steps that led up into the second floor. When he was done with that, he walked into the kitchen to see that Jack and Sammy were sitting at the island on two stools that had not been there before. One was green while the other was blue. It was one way of making sure that Jack didn't confuse whose was whose. Jack was in the green one while Sammy was in the blue. It seemed that Sammy liked blue.

"What kind of snack do we have going on here?" Aaron asked as he walked up behind the boys. Jack held up a carrot, it was purple.

Aaron stepped around the island to come where Spencer was and saw there was a tray there with food for him as well. There were carrots in colors other than orange, cucumber spears, and little tomatoes. Sammy had all of them on his plate as well. There were also two pots there in front of him with dipping sauce. Aron knew the one was ranch and the other looked like Italian dressing. Aaron scooted the Italian over to Spencer who had none, and he took the ranch. Spencer liked both, but he liked Italian better, and Aaron really had no cares which he used. Spencer gave Aaron a shy smile and dunked a cucumber spear into the pot.

Jack chattered on about what did at school that week, and Aaron watched as Sammy looked at him on and off, never in anything other than just looking. He was looking more than he used to. Aaron figured that Sammy was getting used to them. He hoped that it meant that he and Spencer could go on a real date soon. Aaron loved the weekends together with the kids, so he didn't want to change that, but maybe he and Spencer could do his dates during the week or Friday night.

When Sammy and Jack were done eating, they both walked their veggie trays over to the sink and then left the kitchen.

"Oh, I bought Jack a bean bag over. He wants to sit in the sunroom while Sammy is playing piano and draw. I guess maybe I should go and get his art supplies from the car." Aaron grabbed a few carrots from his tray, popping one into his mouth before walking toward the door to leave the house to get the bag of supplies. Some of them were going to stay, probably most but the new sketchpad was going to be the one thing that might go back and forth. Jack had a new zipper case for his pad that he was doing to put the pad in. There was also a box for him to stick his things in like his pencils and other things.

"How much noise do his pencils on paper make?" Spencer asked as he jogged a little to catch up to Aaron.

"Not a lot. I bought really good paper and really good pencils, so there is less sound. I know that Sammy doesn't like the scratching of pencils on paper." Aaron opened the back seat of the car. Spencer was right there, so Aaron handed over the box to him. Aaron grabbed the two bags with Jack's supplies in them. Jack was pretty good for his age, and Jessica helped him a lot with his art. Aaron was just glad that he was into something that wasn't video games. Though Aaron had no clue most of the time what Jack was working on as it was all a secret.

"Good."

"Plus, he's mainly going to be doing it while Sammy is playing so that should help cut down on the noise bothering him." Aaron turned to look at Spencer as he shut the car door, Spencer was looking at the sunroom. Jack wasn't visible, but Sammy was standing at the window and looking at him. Spencer waved with one hand, juggling keeping the case in his other before grabbing it after nearly dropping it. Aaron smiled as he waved at Sammy as well. Sammy gave a little wave back. It was small, but it was there.

"He's getting better at that but only to people that he likes. He doesn't interact with Henry or JJ at all but kind of does with Morgan."

"How are they taking you leaving? Are they getting better at not looking like...what did you call them kicked puppies?" Aaron pushed the door open with his foot from where Spencer had just mostly closed it.

"Better. Morgan stopped looking at me like that. I think JJ just misses me. Sammy likes Will better, but Will is quiet."

Aaron dropped the bean bag chair into the sunroom, and Jack immediately sat down in it. Aaron and then Spencer handed him the art supplies, and Jack set about sorting them and getting them into the case. Aaron wrapped an arm around Spencer and directed him out of the room to leave the boys alone. Spencer didn't hesitate at all. Instead, he just allowed himself to be led back to the kitchen so they could finish their snacks.

Before Aaron went back to his though he stepped up and cupped the sides of Spencer's face to bring his lips up to the right angle for a kiss. Spencer pressed into the kiss and gave a needy little moan. The kisses were few and far between with them, but Aaron liked going very slow.

"So, Jessica brought up something when she picked up Jack to take him to school the other day when I had a doctor appointment in DC."

"Yeah?"

"She said that Sammy did pretty well at finding what he was looking for on her phone so that she could help him find it in his boxes."

"Yeah, we have a few boxes of things to get through still. I let Sammy tell me when he's ready. A lot of it is things from his parent's house that were theirs. I don't want to push him." Spencer pushed up and into a kiss again, and Aaron let it happen. He smiled into it before cupping the back of Spencer's head to keep him in place. There was no rush to get aroused, just a simple press of lips, a building of intimacy. It wasn't exactly on par with what Aaron wanted for them, but he was going to give Spencer what he wanted. Aaron could make concessions if it made Spencer happy and didn't upset him.

"You ready to have a serious talk?" Aaron asked he made sure his tone was gentle and happy so that Spencer didn't freak out any.

"No. Few more minutes," Spencer said, and he pulled Aaron just a little closer with his hands-on Aaron's hips.

Aaron wasn't sure when Spencer had put his hands-on Aaron's hips, but he liked it. He really liked it a lot. Spencer was a lot less hesitant to touch than Aaron thought he would be, at least once Aaron had started most of it. He did get adventurous and so things on his own on occasion, but that just made Aaron even happier.

Spencer lifted his mouth off of Aaron's before giving a happy little sigh. He pushed Aaron back a little as he sat on the counter and reached over to grab their trays of snacks. "So, what is this serious discussion?"

"It's about Sammy. His parents were a little strapped financially. Jackson has some tech he's been developing for some of the non-verbal Autistic kids or neurodivergent as he uses."

"I've seen some things in the email about that. I was wondering why he was sending them to me. It just talked about tech. Probably should look at those."

"You and he have good communication skills, but he's not as verbose in his way with anyone else. I know the school has some things for him. I was just wondering if you had thought about getting him one for home use, especially with Jessica helping watch him."

"Jackson put you up to this, didn't he?" Spencer asked. He was looking at Aaron with a close eye. Aaron only shrugged. "What did he send with you?"

"I kind of resent that."

"No, you don't." Spencer grinned at him as he said it. He held out his hand. Aaron slipped his hand into his back pocket and pulled out a device that looked like a blackberry. The keys were soft, and the screen was pretty big. Aaron had frowned at it when Jackson had met him outside of his house before leaving for work the day before. He couldn't deny his friend anything.

"He has your numbers, mine, Jessica's, and JJ's numbers programmed in. Even if someone were to get a hold of the number for it from someone only approved numbers can access it and only you can add approved numbers. Jackson said the password is the same as your work password. Sammy can text any of us and get responses. It's only good for texting. It's still in a developmental phase, so it routes through Grimes Tech towers. There is no monthly fee for any of the devices, but better ones can be bought for those with money and means, and that's how he supports the network, other than his own money that is."

"I was surprised by how robust his working environment is for those who are neurodivergent."

"He tries to help as many as he can. Someone like Sammy he wouldn't have a place for other than maybe testing tech for people like him but others he can. He's got some brilliant coders who would utterly fail in other companies because they don't show up for work on time if they get out of whack."

"The whole before work I have to make sure to do eight things, and if one takes longer that doesn't matter, I'm not leaving before those eight things are done kind of people?"

"Yes. He has a good bit of staff that are non-verbal as well. There is one that can't live alone, so he found someone to bunk with her. They work the same shift, come in together, leave together. Jackson pays for their rental on the house that they live in. It's a nice house too."

"He's built a company that shows that one can make a shit ton of money in the world and still fucking care about his staff. He pays more than what the average is. Raises are given based on merit and cost of living, both not just one or the other. I know that a lot of other heads of companies hate him for the image he has."

"Jackson's always done things the right way. He's very fair."

Spencer started to type on the little device in his hands, so Aaron let him play around on it as they both finished off their snacks. Aaron stayed right there, pressed to Spencer's knees but not trying to get too close. This was really nice, just being together and not having to perform in one way or another. It was the absolute best thing about being with Spencer. There was never a push for anything.

* * *

Aaron rolled over in bed and tried to figure out what woke him up. He looked at the time and saw that it was ten in the morning. Way past his usual wake up time but the team had not got home until three in the morning to Quantico with the drive home and then settling it had been after four before Aaron had laid down. Jessica had stayed over at the apartment instead of taking Jack to her place. It had been a case involving kids, and Jessica knew that so she had Jack where Aaron could easily watch him sleep for a little bit.

The soft chime from his phone alerted Aaron to what woke him up. He had set his phone to where only specific contacts could get a hold of him, mostly work but Spencer and Jessica had been the other two. Jessica would have woken him up in person since she was there, so that had to mean it was Spencer. Aaron rolled back over to find his phone. He usually left it in one spot, but he had been so tired by the time that he had got to bed that Aaron wasn't even sure he had plugged it in. He was correct that it wasn't. It was at twenty percent. There were three messages from Spencer. The first had been an hour before and asking him if he could help. The next had been worded mostly the same while the last was near begging. Aaron chose to call Spencer instead of text.

"Thank God," Spencer said when he answered the phone.

"Sorry, we got in super late from the case, and I was sleeping hard." Aaron could hear the worry in Spencer's tone. "What's wrong?"

"I can't get him to stop," Spencer said.

Aaron closed his eyes and wondered if this was that freak out that Spencer talked about. With Spencer not being able to make Sammy calm down and then Spencer's emotions affecting him. Then Aaron heard puking in the background. It seemed that sickness had come before an episode. Aaron knew that a stomach virus had been making its way through Jack's school and probably every other school in the area as well. Jack had been down it with for two days. Some kids puked a few times and were fine. Jack had been sickly feeling with a fever for two days but little puking unless he ate or drank too much at a time. Then some kids almost needed put into the hospital to combat their throwing up and not being able to get anything liquid inside of them.

"Spencer calm down."

"He's been puking for four hours. It's mostly dry heaves at this point as there is nothing left, but he does throw up stomach acid some."

"Do you have any Pedialyte?"

"What's that?" Spencer asked.

"Jack and I will be over as soon as we can get there. Just keep him calm and don't leave him alone. He's bound to be afraid and will want you close."

"I don't want you or Jack to get sick."

"Jack's had it already, and it was pure luck that I didn't get it. I don't want you alone, Spencer."

"What should I do in the meantime?"

"Room temperature water in small sips to see if he can keep that down. No more than a tablespoon every five or so minutes. I'll be there as soon as I can." Aaron rolled out of bed and debated staying on the line with Spencer, but when he showered, and he did need one, he wouldn't be able to talk, and the driving and getting ready would happen quicker if he weren't on the phone. "I'll call you when I am close to your house. If you need me, call me, though. Unless I am in the shower, I promise that either Jack or I will answer."

"Okay." Spencer sounded so small and afraid at that moment, and Aaron didn't like it. He hated Spencer sounding like that at all. Aaron hadn't even had a single thought about Sammy getting sick and preparing Spencer for that. He felt he was a little stupid for forgetting that kids got sick.

Aaron rushed through, getting dressed and packing extra clothes into his bag. He knew well enough about kids puking that he knew that he would need a few changes of clothes just to be safe. Spencer had a washer and a dryer so getting clothes clean if he ran out wouldn't be that big of an issue, but it was better to have a good bit of them.

Jack and Jessica were both in the living room. Jack was playing a video game of some kind on the TV. It looked fascinating, but Aaron wasn't that worried about looking too closely at it.

"Hey, Jack."

"Dad!" Jack said as he set down his controls and ran to him. Aaron wrapped his arms around Jack and picked him up.

"So, do you wanna help me with something super important today?"

"What?"

"Well, Sammy's sick, and Spencer's a little freaked out. I was going to go over and help him get Sammy settled. Do you want to help me help Spencer?"

"Did Sammy get that stomach bug?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I think he did. I heard him puke over the phone."

"That sucks. I want to go and help Sammy feel better."

"Okay, then go and pack some clothes."

"Just in case Sammy pukes on me like I did you?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Aaron set Jack down, and he took off, running toward his bedroom. Aaron would typically tell him not to run, but in this case, it was just Jack trying to rush. Jessica stood up from the couch and walked over to Aaron.

"First time Sammy has got sick like this with him?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, and he's very freaked out. I'm going to stop at the store and stock up on some bland things as well as some Pedialyte. I'll even get those molds like we have to make some ice cubes and popsicles. Those little cubes that Jack likes to suck on during summer. I can freeze some of the Pedialyte like that."

"That sounds like a plan and if you need anything after you get settled just call. I have nothing to do to today and making the little one feel better would make me feel better if I can help. I know he doesn't need a lot of people around him though, so I'll just stay back unless needed."

"You are a lifesaver as always."

"It's nice to feel wanted." Jessica gave Aaron a smile before she gave him a kiss on the cheek and started to move around to gather her things to leave.

Aaron showed her out and then set about eating something for breakfast. He would pick up things for Jack and him and Spencer at the store, things that didn't need to be cooked so the smell wouldn't upset Sammy. Aaron was good at that kind of things, and thankfully, Aaron knew Spencer's tastes well enough that he could find some things. He would make sure to get a few Lunchables for Sammy too. The kid loved those things, and Aaron was very much in the mindset of whatever a kid thought they could eat while sick was what they were going to get. Unless it was going to make them sicker.

The drive to the store was short, the trip inside of the store was longer than Aaron would like, but it seemed that the store that was between Spencer and Aaron that was the best had remodeled and moved everything. Aaron hated that so it took him three times as long to find what he needed and included a few backtracks for things he didn't see the first time around. Jack was reading in the backseat of the car and had a squishy stuffed bear in his arm. It was bright neon green and was made of a soft, almost satin stretchy material that was filled with puff balls and not fiberfill like a lot of stuffed animals. Aaron just hoped that Sammy was okay with the feel of it. Jack understood that things that he liked, Sammy didn't and vice versa so that part was going to be easy if Sammy didn't like it. Aaron just wanted the boy to be able to hug something if he wanted.

Spencer met them at the door. He was dressed in a pair of thin linen pants and a shirt that looked very old. Aaron figured that he had gone for things that were not perfect just in case he was thrown up on again. Jack had most of the bags in his hands as he wanted to help, and it was about the only way that he could at the moment. Aaron wrapped his arms around Spencer, who struggled to get away. Aaron would have let go except he could hear Spencer's murmurs about Aaron getting sick and Aaron was being stupid.

"If I'm going to catch it, Spencer, I'll catch it. Staying away from you isn't going to matter." Aaron pressed a kiss to the top of Spencer's head where Spencer curled it to tuck into his neck. Aaron felt the tension in Spencer's body and knew that there was not a lot that he could do to get rid of it. Hell, Aaron wasn't sure it was ever going to entirely go away until Sammy was back to his usual self.

"Dad, I'm going to go and put away the groceries. I'll leave half of the Pedialyte out and put the rest in the fridge."

"Thank you, Jack." Aaron watched as Jack dragged the bag after him that had the Pedialyte in it. Aaron had brought his own re-usable bags because the bottles were heavy and broke the standard plastic. Aaron was slowly building up his collection of bags so that he didn't have to use the plastic ones.

"Thank you," Spencer said as he finally pulled out of Aaron's hold. He was less tense.

"You are very welcome, and I'm glad that you called me."

"Why? So, you can get sick?" Spencer asked.

"No, because that means that you want me here to help comfort you as much as Sammy and that you trust me with Sammy when he's sick. I know the feeling well of being scared when it comes to kids. I hated people being around Jack when he was sick. I was afraid they would hurt him or make him sicker. Rationality and parents do not go hand in hand, even for logical geniuses." Aaron tipped Spencer's face to where he was looking at him but before he could say anything else, or do anything else, there was the sound of a light moan and then someone throwing up. Aaron started to look around and then saw that Spencer had a baby monitor hooked onto the top of his pants.

Spencer turned the device down and took off for the stairs. Aaron followed behind at a lot slower pace, stopping in the kitchen to get a bottle of the warm Pedialyte and then went up the stairs. Jack was still putting away the things bought, leaving the canned goods on the counter, the boxed stuff beside the canned, and the cold stuff in the fridge. Jack was always a good little helper.

Aaron looked into the bathroom that was just Sammy's, but there was no one in it. There were three bathrooms on the top floor, which had been a blessing Spencer had said as he didn't want others using Sammy's. Aaron frowned but walked to check Spencer's bathroom. There he found Sammy on his knees in front of Spencer's toilet with Spencer on his ass beside him. Spencer was rubbing the tips of his fingers across Sammy's upper back. Aaron saw that it was just dry heaves again. He grabbed the glass that was by the sink and poured a little bit of the unflavored Pedialyte into the glass and handed it to Spencer before he sat down beside him.

"Thanks," Spencer said as he took the glass and waited for Sammy to sit up.

Aaron wondered about how Sammy had alerted Spencer that he wasn't feeling well. Did he just start to puke? Did he get to Spencer and hold his stomach? Aaron would ask that later when Sammy was asleep, and they were all resting.

Sammy dry heaved for another few minutes before he slumped back to lean against the tub that was beside the toilet. He looked at Aaron with wide eyes.

"Spencer called me over so I could help him make you feel better. I have more experience with sick kids than he does, so I came to teach him."

Sammy didn't respond, but he didn't freak out at all either. He did, however, move forward. Spencer sat back as he did and waited to see what Sammy was going to go. Sammy crawled right into Spencer's lap and just leaned against him. Spencer looked at Aaron with wide, shocked eyes. Aaron just gave him a grin. Spencer handed the Pedialyte to Sammy. Spencer cleaned up Sammy's face with a wet washcloth, Sammy didn't even try and fight him on that. Which, Aaron counted as a win. He understood why Spencer was touching him and was allowing it. Hell, being slightly cleaner had to feel better to Sammy.

"This is stuff that's going to taste different than water, Sammy. It's not going to make you feel better, but it will make sure that you don't get sicker because you can't keep anything down. Take small, slow sips, please."

Sammy looked at the liquid in the glass before he tipped it this way and that. He tipped the glass towards him but didn't actually get it closer to his mouth until the liquid was almost to the rim. He stuck his tongue out and let the first of his taste buds get a taste of it. He looked at Spencer and Aaron a little shocked. He took a sip of it next before letting his hand sag down some. Sammy took a sip nearly exactly every minute over the next few. Aaron timed it on his watch. When he had taken his fifth sip of the Pedialyte and hadn't thrown up, he stood up.

Spencer was up just a second after Sammy, and he followed Sammy into the bedroom. Spencer was frowning so Aaron got up as well. Sammy was making a distressed noise, his eyes darting around the room from the bed to the door to Aaron and back to Spencer before starting over again.

"What does he want?" Aaron asked.

"I have no clue. Sammy, show me what you want, please." Spencer waited as Sammy calmed down some before, he stepped closer to him. "Show me."

Sammy closed the small distance between him and Spencer before grabbing Spencer's wrist to tug him to the bed. Spencer climbed onto it and settled with his legs crossed. Sammy made a distressed noise, and then his eyes darted to the headboard. Spencer smiled and moved to sit there. Sammy crawled onto the bed instantly and settled into Spencer's lap, sitting up with his side pressed against Spencer's chest. Sammy did something next that kind of shocked Aaron. He looked at him and held out his hand, making a tiny grasping motion.

"I will in a few moments, I need to check on the food that I brought over. Then I'll come in and cuddle with you two."

Aaron rushed down to find that Jack had everything put up where it belonged, and he was in his bean bag in the sunroom drawing. "Want to come upstairs with Spencer, Sammy, and I?"

"Are you sure that Sammy doesn't mind? I don't like a lot of people around me when I am sick."

"I don't know, but he knows us well enough that we will know if he doesn't want you around. Bring your drawing stuff or a book."

"I'm gonna bring both. Are you in Spencer's room?"

"Yes, come up when you want, just don't bring food. Drinks are okay." Aaron ruffled Jack's hair before he walked into the kitchen to grab one of the small to go bottles of the lemon-lime Pedialyte that he had grabbed. It reminded him of a small sports drink bottle, but it would allow Sammy to add in a flavor if he liked it.

Aaron found Sammy and Spencer on the bed in the same position as he entered the bedroom. Spencer was looking down at Sammy's head like he was one of the best things in the world. Aaron settled the drink bottle onto the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed from where Spencer and Sammy were before he crawled into the bed as well. He settled into a position much like Spencer except his legs were thrown out into the bed more. He looked at Spencer with a smile on his face.

"He never did this with his parents," Spencer said.

Aaron looked at Sammy's face to see that he was asleep. It was good for him to get a little bit of sleep where he could. His body would heal better, though Aaron wished that he had got some more Pedialyte into him. Aaron looked and saw that nearly half of the bottle was gone from the unflavored.

"He went and got it himself. He took small sips until he went to sleep." Spencer rubbed at Sammy's back.

"Well, that's good." Aaron reached out and brushed at a little bit of fringe on Sammy's forehead. "You accept him, Spencer, for who he is. You don't push him to be a normal kid. He understands that. You know that he doesn't think like we do. You understand him better than anyone else who has ever been around him. So, I like to believe that he's showing you that he loves you in these ways. You don't think that touching or not touching makes him less than human. You've given him everything that makes his life better, even if it doesn't make your life easier. His parents loved him, and they did their best, but they were not equipped to change that much for him. You changed your entire life for a child that is not yours. You took a different job, moved into a new house, you've made this house a safe place for Sammy to live and to be himself. He knows that, and he understands that."

"Still, I hate that his parents wanted this and didn't get it."

"They are just going to be happy to know that Sammy is happy, in whatever form of afterlife they are in."

The sound of Jack's papers rustling drew Aaron's attention over to where his son was entering the room. Sammy didn't stir at all. Aaron looked at him and saw contentment of just laying on Spencer, even though he was asleep. Jack crawled onto the foot of the bed and laid down on his belly and set up his drawing stuff. It looked like he was drawing something with dogs, but Aaron wasn't sure.

"How are you feeling?" Aaron asked, looking at Spencer.

"I feel fine. I will probably still come down with it, but I hope that Sammy's mostly over it before then. I don't know, but I just hope. It probably won't happen, given the luck that I have."

"The team is on stand down for a little bit, too many cases in a row with not enough downtime. I can take leave and stay with you if you get sick. Help nurse you back to health." Aaron reached out and brushed his knuckles down the side of Spencer's face. He gave Spencer a big smile.

"I think I would like that if I get sick."

"And if you don't?" Aaron asked.

"I'll need help with Sammy while he's sick. Help so that I don't burn myself out taking care of him." Spencer looked a lot hesitant as he said it.

"Okay, Jack and I will stay. He can sleep on the couch in your office or downstairs, whichever you prefer, and I can take the guest room. Jack kicks in his sleep, so he is not sleeping with me."

"I do not," Jack said in a much louder tone than he should have used.

"You do too," Aaron said, his tone soft.

"Sorry," Jack said back.

"I'm going to make us lunch soon," Aaron said as he looked down at Sammy. "Sandwiches and chips. That way maybe the smell won't make Sammy sicker. Is that okay with you?"

"Sounds wonderful. Thank you, Aaron, for coming when I called. For helping me."

"I would rather be here than anywhere else. I'll always come when you need me, and I am free to come."

Spencer gave Aaron such a look of love that it nearly made Aaron's heart burst. He pulled Spencer closer to him using a hand on his opposite shoulder. Spencer tipped over quickly, giving into Aaron's comfort. This was enough for the rest of Aaron's life, even if they never shared a house in a standard fashion. Making Spencer happy and helping Sammy become the best person he could be was enough.

Aaron looked at Jack and saw that he was happy, it was more than Aaron ever thought that he would get for his son. In the wake of Haley's death, Aaron had thought that Jack would never be happy. That there was nothing that would ever make Jack happy again. Then as Aaron got more settled, that he let Jack become what he was in the wake of his mother's death, the happier they both got. Their life had been good before Spencer, but it had only got better in the wake of Spencer and Sammy getting close to them. Things could only get better from there with those two in their lives, they could become a family at some point.

That was something that Aaron wanted, a family. He had learned, though, that families didn't have to be the white picket fence with kids and a loving mother and father. Families were what one made them to be.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


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